Las Vegas Raiders: A familiar face to run Josh McDaniels’ offense in 2023?
Las Vegas Raiders: A familiar face to run Josh McDaniels’s offense in 2023
Jimmy Garoppolo
I’ll start right off the bat by saying this is the option that I hate the most. Out of all the ways we could go, this one would have me the most bummed out and skeptical. It may be because he’s freshly coming off an injury, the fact he will probably warrant a higher-paying contract, or that my brother has pounded the table for multiple years about his mediocrity on our podcast the Raider Take Podcast.
Regardless of your opinion of him, he does fit the mold for the purpose of this article. He was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft and spent his first four seasons as Tom Brady’s backup. He made multiple appearances in games in a supporting role for the first two years, before starting for the Patriots in 2016 when Tom Brady was suspended for the first 4 games of the season in connection with the deflate-gate scandal.
What set the stage for the rest of Garoppolo’s career was the first two games he started. He threw for 264 yards and a touchdown in a win against the Cardinals and 234 yards and three touchdowns against the Dolphins before getting hurt and injuring his AC joint.
Garoppolo went on to be traded to the 49ers and be a part of the Kyle Shannahan teams that have been pretty dominant and steadily good the past few years. What is often debated about his success in San Fransisco is whether he is actually a good quarterback or a product of a well-managed system and great defenses.
Garoppolo goes into the 2023 season as a free agent and, like it or not, someone who has had 4 years and some success within McDaniels system. He’s been in this weird limbo state of whether he should be paid as a legit starter or not, but regardless we will see whether that’s true come free agency. He is coming off an injury that ironically was suffered against the Miami Dolphins this past year that will almost certainly affect his market value.
Wherever he goes though, he will most likely get a higher-end contract as a starting quarterback. Whether he can bounce back from his injury will be a big question mark and something I don’t think the Raiders should take a risk on when taking into account what it might take to solidify a contract from the once-successful New England Patriot.